Mazda CX-9 revealed

Mazda's second generation CX-9 will go from being one of the thirstiest SUVs on the market to one of the most economical, while also being one of the largest and most spacious.

Revealed at the 2015 Los Angeles motor show and set to go on sale here in the middle of 2016, the all-new model is about 100kg lighter than the car that first arrived in 2007 but is 30mm shorter while providing similar interior space.

Pricing for the new CX-9 is expected to range from about $45,000 to as much as $70,000, with a new top-end luxury model being considered to partially compete with European luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Boasting a bolder interpretation of the so-called Kodo design theme, the SUV wagon also gets a new 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine to replace the V6 in the outgoing car.

Power drops 17 per cent with the new engine, something that led to heated internal debate at Mazda, especially from the marketing department in the United States, which was nervous about going backwards on a key performance metric (the US accounts for about 80 per cent of the CX-9's sales).

But torque – the thing most people use every day when driving around the suburbs or cruising on a freeway – jumps 14 percent and is available much lower in the rev range for improved driveability and response, making the car feel more powerful to most buyers.

The 2.5-litre turbo produces 169kW of power and 420Nm of torque, with up to 186kW of power when running on more expensive premium unleaded fuel.

2016 Mazda CX-9 Photo: Mike Ditz

It will be the only engine on offer but will be available either as a front-wheel drive version or all-wheel drive, the latter with a new predictive system that helps divert up to 50 per cent of drive to the rear wheels in many cases before the front wheels begin to slip. Mazda is using dozens of sensors in the car to predict when wheelspin is likely; if the windscreen wipers are on, for example, it assumes it is raining so there may be less grip, and if the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celcius it assumes there is a chance of snow or ice. It also relies on wheel speed sensors, g-force meters and steering responses to determine everything from the angle the car is on to how much grip the road surface has. It's all with the aim of "building a picture of the outside world" in an effort to reduce wheelspin.

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And the critical number so many Mazda CX-9 owners will want to hear is that fuel consumption has dropped by about 20 per cent – and that's without a stop-start feature that cuts the engine when idling in heavy traffic.

The exact fuel use figures are yet to be confirmed but are expected to be below 9.0 litres per 100km, making the CX-9 more economical than petrol-powered versions of the Ford Territory (10.2L/100km), Toyota Kluger (10.2-10.6L/100km), Nissan Pathfinder (9.9-10.2L/100km) and Kia Sorento (9.9L/100km).

Only the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid uses less fuel as a petrol model, with claimed consumption of 8.4L/100km. However various large seven-seat diesel-powered SUVs are more economical, with the Hyundai Santa Fe (7.3L/100km) and Kia Sorento (7.8L/100km) comfortably undercutting the Mazda.

However Mazda claims the improvement to the claimed fuel consumption figures – tested to a government standard and displayed on a sticker on the windscreen – tell only half the fuel saving story.

"We're not that focused on the numbers you're going to see in the catalogue, peak power values and that kind of thing," says North American development engineer Dave Coleman.

"We're more focused on real world driving and what the customers are going to experience."

He also said that thinking was applied to the engine's performance, something that resulted in better driveability but reduced peak power.

"There are a lot of examples where what will show up in the catalogue, engineering toward that target will directly hurt the driving experience in the real world. By focusing on real world we came up with a very different solution."

The CX-9 turbo gets a variable geometry turbocharger, a technology common in turbo diesel engines but rare in petrol engines; the only current petrol-powered car using such technology is the Porsche 911 Turbo.

"We obviously we want to get really good fuel economy on the window sticker but we also want to make sure that in the real world what the customers will experience when they actually drive the car is also outstanding."

The new CX-9 also gets an interior big on style, following on from the theme set with other Mazdas.

High grade models get real wood, leather and metal finishes, with the wood sourced from a Japanese guitar manufacturer.

The CX-9 also adopts an optional head-up display (projecting the speedo and other information onto a virtual space at the end of the bonnet) and side blinds in the rear doors.

The CX-9 is also set to become the first among its direct rivals to have child seat anchor points in the third row of seats, allowing greater flexibility for up to five child seats.

One of the few oversights in the CX-9 is a lack of air vents to the third row. Engineers have instead worked on getting the second row air vents to partially flow above the heads of those in the middle row, all the way to the rear of the car.

That middle row seat is also a 60/40 split-fold design, a step back from the 40/20/40 setup in the smaller, more affordable CX-5. Mazda says there are advantages with middle seat comfort as well as reduced weight.

A full size spare tyre also does not fit in the car, with those unlucky enough to get a puncture left with a space saver. The standard tyres are 18 inches in diameter on the base cars and 20 inches on more expensive models.

Mazda is expected to offer the CX-9 in at least three trim levels similar to the current car's Classic, leather-lined Luxury and most expensive Grand Touring range. However the company is considering a flagship model that would undercut seven-seaters from the luxury brands such as BMW, Volvo and Audi.

All are expected to get keyless entry and all but the base model are expected to get auto emergency braking as part of the i-ActivSense suite of active safety features. It can automatically apply the brakes to avoid a crash. There is also blind spot warning, lane keep assist and radar cruise control.